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US President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday to revive the country’s shrinking coal industry, rolling back key restrictions despite the fuel’s major role in climate change and pollution.

Trump directed federal agencies to lift Obama-era limits on coal mining, leasing, and exports. He instructed the Interior Department to locate coal deposits on federal lands, remove barriers to mining, and fast-track leasing processes.

“All those plants that have been closed are going to be opened if they’re modern enough, or they’ll be ripped down and brand new ones will be built,” Trump said, surrounded by coal miners in hard hats at the White House. “We’re going to put the miners back to work.”

Coal companies held just 279 federal leases across nearly 422,000 acres as of 2023, a sharp drop from 489 leases covering about 730,000 acres in 1990.

Trump also ordered his newly formed National Energy Dominance Council to classify coal as a critical mineral, equating it with materials essential for defence systems and battery production. The move builds on a previous executive order allowing emergency powers and funding to boost domestic supply chains for critical minerals and rare earths.

“Coal is the single most reliable, durable, secure and powerful form of energy,” Trump said Tuesday. “It’s cheap, incredibly efficient, high density, and it’s almost indestructible. You could drop a bomb on it, and it’s going to be there for you to use the next day, which you can’t say with any other form of energy.”

The Department of Energy and other agencies will now examine whether more coal-fired plants can be kept online or reactivated to meet rising electricity demand. Some aging coal plants previously set for retirement may stay in operation.

This surge in power demand stems from rapid growth in data centres, artificial intelligence and electric vehicles (EVs). Trump argues coal is essential to power these technologies and to support industries like steelmaking.

Despite Trump’s long-standing pledge to bring back what he calls “beautiful” coal, the sector has been in long-term decline. US coal production has fallen dramatically in recent years, outpaced by cheaper natural gas and increasingly affordable renewable energy.

EPA’s help

Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency is , including limits on mercury and carbon dioxide. It’s considering exemptions for certain facilities from air quality rules.

Environmental groups blasted the executive order, calling it a backward move at odds with market trends. Renewables now dominate new power generation: 93% of electricity added to the US grid this year will come from solar, wind, and batteries, according to government forecasts.

Coal accounts for only 15% of power generation in the US today, down from more than half in 2000, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

While Trump failed to revive coal during his first term, the landscape has shifted. Utilities now warn that retiring coal plants too quickly could strain the grid, especially as extreme weather events become more frequent due to climate change.

The executive order underscores Trump’s broader energy strategy: maximize domestic fossil fuel production to meet surging power demands and maintain grid reliability, regardless of environmental consequences.

(With files from Bloomberg, Reuters)